Burēdo no Sekai
by Solar0110
Summary: What do you do when you literally get stuck in a game? Play of course! Follow Kirito, a young Japanese boy on his journey in this world. [I suck at summaries, so just read? I dunno] Rated T for minor language issues. Slow updates, work-in-progress.
1. Prologue

Aincraid - A giant castle of steel and concrete, floating in an endless sky. Spanning about 10km in diameter and comprising of 100 floors stacked upon each other, to even estimate the size of this construction was impossible, the data that it was made from even more so.

This was in a game, the first fully virtual world ever created. It had been greeted with thunderous reception and was going to become the best game for a long, long time. The rules of the game were simple - to not die and clear all 100 floors.

But this was the game where if you died in-game, you died in real life.

This was «Sword Art Online»


	2. Opening Day

**Burēdo no Sekai - Chapter 1**

Hey guys, thanks for reading (or at least looking) at this! Still new to this writing thing so you being here really makes me happy :D Don't forget to review!

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><p><span>A few terms explained:<span>

**PM** - Stands for 'Private Message'. Is literally a private message and is part of SAO's mailing system.

**Sword Skill** - A system-assisted attack that can be activated by holding your weapon/body in a certain fashion. Is stronger and faster than the usual attack. However after the skill is 'completed' your body is frozen for a period of time. The stronger the skill, the longer the freeze time.

**Duel** - A one-on-one battle between two players. There are three modes - First strike, 30 Second and Deathmatch.

**PKer** - Player Killer

**NPC **- Non-Playable Character

**Negative Status Effects **– A type of buff (also referred to as a debuff) that instead of helping the player with the effect hinders them from performing certain tasks normally, i.e. paralysis stops player movement for a given time.

**Stat. Points **– Points awarded to a player that can be used to increase certain stats, for example Strength, Agility, Dexterity and Vitality. Players are usually given 3 or 4 per level.

**Drop Rate **– The chance for an equipment or item to 'drop' when a mob is destroyed. For example, if the drop rate of an item is 100%, that item will always drop.

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><p><strong>[AN – I really didn't want to write all the canon before this so watch episode 1 of the anime or read the light novel and you'll understand where I'm starting from.]**

# Note: Instead of the double greater than/less than signs, I use square brackets.

_Italics = Thoughts_

**Bold = Mob does this**

**_Bold + Italics = Something does this (not a mob)_**

**[I DO NOT OWN SAO. IF I DID THEN THE QUALITY WOULD BE REALLY, REALLY BAD AND YOU WOULDN'T KNOW ABOUT IT.]**

**A World of Swords**

_"I can make it with Klein, definitely…but if there were two more – no, even if there were one…dammit Kirito, think! There has to be a way! There has to!" _Kirito struggled, thinking furiously as he tried to combat his dilemma. But he couldn't. He was stuck.

"Sorry." Klein said. Startled, Kirito's head shot up, shock written all over his face.

"W-what?" he managed to say. He looked up at the older figure and noticed the stupidly wide grin Klein had on his face.

"Seriously, you've already done so much to help me." Klein reasoned. "You helped me with the basics, put up with my lack of skill, etc. Asking for more would just be greedy. Head over to the next village, we'll be fine." Kirito still looked doubtful, so he gave one more push. "It'll be fine, relax." He was still grinning.

The two players stood in silence for a few moments, waiting for the younger to make a decision. He did.

"Ok." He turned away, facing Klein side on now, and gave Klein some last-minute guidance. "If anything happens, PM me straightaway, got it?"

"Sure!" Klein replied.

"Alright. Goodbye, Klein." Kirito said softly.

He turned to face the black darkness of the empty alley and prepared to run, leaning on the balls of his feet. He was just about to take off when –

"Kirito!"

- he heard someone call his name from behind. He stopped and listened for another call but didn't feel the need to turn around. After a few moments, he sighed and took a few more steps, mood dropping with each step. But someone called for him again.

"Kirito." The call was more of a plea to turn around than a call for attention this time. Kirito did so and found Klein scratching his new scruffy red hair, sporting a childish look on his face.

"You actually turned out to look pretty cute." Klein joked, "That's my type." Again, he grinned widely. Kirito's eyebrows rose slightly in response, then, recognising the joke, he laughed, saying "And that unkempt face of yours suits you ten times better!" with a grin of his own.

He turned around and ran, but this time there was no call for him to stop or turn back. Upon reaching a turn in the path, he twisted his head to peer at what he had just left behind. Nothing. All alone. Again. Gut constricting painfully, he grit his teeth, running for the [Town of Beginnings Northern Exit], knowing that it would take him to his next destination – [Horunka Village]. Along the way, he bought a couple of potions from a friendly NPC.

_"Get used to it. You chose to do this, there's no going back."_

After five minutes of running along the dirt path, a wolf-type mob spawned a few meters in front of Kirito. The [Dire Wolf] howled a challenge to him, hackles raised. He raised his right arm to the back of his shoulder in response, hand wrapping around the leather-bound hilt of his [Short Sword] (which was an odd name, seeing as it isn't really 'short') and, in one fluid, almost practiced movement, slid it clear of its metal sheath. He raised the iron weapon to shoulder height, parallel to the ground. It began to give off a bluish glow – the sign that a [Sword Skill] was ready to activate.

_"I cannot lose."_

"Uraa!"

**Graa!**

Both Kirito and the wolf charged at each other, one roaring and the other howling. The gap closed quickly between the two figures as Kirito's right arm shot forward, like an arrow from a bow, leaving a trail of luminescent blue in its wake. The sword ripped through the side of the wolf as if it were butter, demolishing its [HP] and causing it to shatter into a multitude of polygons. Quick, painless, inhumane and unrealistic were all words that could describe the simple death sequence of [SAO] – a stark contrast to the amazingly lifelike detail of the death game. As this happened, Kirito's mind raced –

_"I will not die in this world!"_

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><p>Being a small village, the entrance was simple – just two fence posts standing about 3 meters apart. They had red markings on the bottom of them, which clarified it was the entrance to a [Safe Zone]. If not for the red markings, the entrance would just look to be random objects that the developer forgot to take out. The village walls were in a similar condition, but didn't have the entrance's red markings.<p>

As Kirito walked on his lonesome through the entrance, he noticed two purple-coloured words in his field of vision that faded in and out momentarily. They read 'Safe Zone'. He relaxed noticeably, shoulders sagging – in a [Safe Zone] it was impossible for your [HP] to drop unless you had accepted a [Duel], which he had no intention of doing (not that there was anyone to duel anyway). After a short sigh, he looked for a small farmhouse near the edge of his vision. As soon as he spotted it, he ran, wanting to obtain the quest within and complete it as soon as possible.

The house, like the rest of the village, was a simple structure. It hadn't changed since the [Closed Beta Test] in August and still looked as if it would collapse on itself at any moment. He turned the polished wooden door handle and pushed the door open. Inside, the building looked completely different. The inside was beautifully decorated and brightly lit. The only possible thing that could detract from this place's beauty would be the feverish girl lying on the bed to Kirito's right, next to the window. There was a beautiful woman by her side, presumably her mother. She had a golden (!) mark above her head, which reminded Kirito that he was playing a game – reminding him how cruel the game was, to trap someone (actually 10,000) in such a detailed and life-like environment. With a vigorous shake of the head, he shook away those thoughts and walked towards the female NPC.

"Hello traveller." She said as he got closer. "Are you busy at the moment?"

"No, do you need any help?" Kirito replied. The [Questing] system of [Sword Art Online] was an interesting one. A player would only be able to accept quests by replying in a certain fashion, and the details of the quest/quest reward would differ depending on what was said in the conversation.

"Behind me is my daughter. As you can see, she is very sick. I have tried cure after cure but to no avail, which leads me to believe the only medicine that will work is the one extracted from [Little Nepent Bulbs]. The place where they can be obtained is far too dangerous for one such as I, so I ask for your help. Traveller, would you be kind enough to help me?"

"Sure." He casually replied. By doing so, three things happened. First, the golden (!) mark above her head turned into a silver (?) mark. Second, a pop-up message appeared in front of him, saying:

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

[Quest Accepted – Secret Medicine of the Forest]

Obtain one [Little Nepent Bulb] from [Little Nepent] monsters in the forests close to [Horunka Village] and bring it back to the sick child's mother.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Third, the female thanked Kirito with a hearty "thank you". Kirito took this to be the time to leave, so he swiftly exited the house, heading to the forest mentioned.

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><p>Haunted. It was the single thought that came to Kirito's mind every time he saw the forest. It wasn't because of the many [Level 3] monsters that inflicted negative status effects or the fact that he was there alone. It was the thick, dense canopy which prevented almost all light from coming through. It was the eerie BGM playing in the background. It was the fact that if one could ignore the BGM, it was completely silent. The place was designed to be 100% freaky.<p>

_"Dammit…I hate this place."_ Kirito mentally cursed. He took a deep breath and sighed a few moments later, steeling his mind. It was in places like this that attack was almost certain – and the attacks in this area would have harsh penalties due to the nature of the local mobs. It was enough to set you on edge at even the smallest sound. He thought back to the [Beta Test] in an effort to calm himself with the security of knowledge, but to no avail. Instead, he remembered his many deaths.

_"Hopefully nothing's changed since the Beta…our information could end up killing us." _He thought as he trekked into the forest. _"Just get it over with."_

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><p>xXxXxXxXxXxXx<p>

[Level Up!]

[Congratulations! You are now Lv.2!]

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

The pop-up window appeared in front of Kirito with a jovial soundtrack, breaking Kirito out of his death stance*. He quickly reviewed the new information and dismissed the message, eyes darting from side to side. Satisfied that the coast was clear, he started walking back the way he came, but with a slight leftwards direction thrown in. It would lead him to the forest's [Safe Zone], he knew, where he could set his newly awarded [Stat. Points] without fear of attack.

The two red markers were what gave away the position of the [safe zone]. In the darkness of the forest, they shone like two red beacons, catching Kirito's attention almost immediately. He walked over, guard dropping upon entering the area. He sighed.

_"Am I really unlucky today or is the bulb's drop-rate lower than before? Honestly, gaining an entire level without finding one is just stupid...whatever, let's just set those points."_

He flicked his right arm downwards, thumb and forefinger seemingly glued together, signalling the system to call the game's menu. A series of small white circles adorned with similarly small symbols appeared in front of him, arranging themselves in a vertical scroll fashion. As a veteran [SAO] player, Kirito manipulated this system with ease, and had the [stat. distribution] menu out in no less than five seconds.

_"Now…what stats to raise? I'm a damage-dealer, so STR is a must – two of three points there. For my last point, I should get something with defensive abilities, so DEX is out of the question…maybe in a different game I would take it, but I might actually die IRL so it isn't really worth the risk. That leaves VIT and AGI. VIT would increase my defence and health whereas AGI would increase my movement and dodging capabilities...well, I'm no tank so AGI it is."_

Finished with his mental argument, Kirito pressed the small plus sign next to [STR] twice and the one next to [AGI] once, pressing the confirm button when finished. He dismissed the menu and smiled, satisfied with his allocation. He closed his eyes, resting for a bit. Then, he noticed something odd. He started to hear a completely new sound. A type of rhythmic 'shing'. It was familiar, he knew. Something he could figure out easily if he actually tried.

_"Sword skill. That's the sound of a sword skill. But that means there must be another player here and I didn't see anyone on the way here. I'm sure I was the first one out of the [Town of Beginnings], so how did this person get here?" _Deciding to check it out, Kirito stood up, walking towards the source of the noise. For good measure, he activated his [detection] skill, to make sure he wouldn't fall prey to an ambush.

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><p>"Uraa!" A brown-haired player swung his sword at a plant-like creature, who in turn attacked by swinging its vines, laced with barbed teeth. Grunting, he jumped backwards, managing to dodge the attack just in time.<p>

_"Huh. Looks like luck's on my side today."_ Kirito thought as he observed the fight. _"Might as well jump in then."_ Silently, he stood up, clearing his sword from its sheath. Raising it to shoulder height, parallel to the ground, he waited for the [Impale] skill to activate. Then, when the sword began to glow a luminescent blue, he pounced, piercing the monster's thin stalk, killing it instantly. He turned around to greet the other player and received a rant in response.

"Hey."

"That's all you have to say?! Mate, watch it! You almost hit me! Thanks for killing the nepent, sure, but you almost hit me! Are you insane?!" the brown-haired player ranted. Then, he recognised who his 'attacker' was. "Kirito! Are you sure you're right in the brains?! I could've died!" he questioned again, irritation evident in his tone.

"Nice to meet you too Coper." He replied, grinning all the while.

Coper merely sighed in response. "Jeez. You haven't changed at all."

"I'd hope not. Anyway, how'd you get here so fast? I didn't see you at all when I was coming here."

"I ran."

"That's it?"

"Yup."

_"Must've gotten out when I was talking to Klein then."_

"So how've you been Kirito?"

"Eh, I've been fine. Kinda' pissed though, levelled up but still haven't found the bulb."

"I know right! Do you think they lowered the drop-rate?"

"Maybe. Either that or we're both just really unlucky."

"Well, wanna team up then? Party drop-rates are still higher right?"

"Might as well. We'll level up faster this way too."

Coper, being a [beta player] like Kirito, went through the menu options with practiced ease and in no time at all the two friends were in the same party. They chatted for a while longer, reminiscing on events past and discussed their plan of action. They finished a couple minutes later, agreeing that whoever found a drop kept it, no questions asked. Happy as he was to meet an old friend, Kirito missed the quick clouding of Coper's eyes when the deal was struck.

"Alright. Let's get to work."

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><p><strong>Nraaa!<strong>

The Lv. 3 [Little Nepent] swung its barbed vines at the ones that had put it through so much pain. They were annoying to it, dancing in and out of its reach while decorating its body with a variety of red cuts. It shrieked once more and prepared to swing again when –

**_Slash_** – the iron blade of Kirito's sword depleted the last of the [Little Nepent]'s [HP]. It shrieked in pain and quickly exploded into a multitude of polygons. Checking the [battle rewards] screen once again, Kirito's mood rose a bit.

"Hey Coper! We finally got one!"

"About time! Help me with this one!"

"Switch!" Coper bashed the target with the flat of his blade, causing it to flinch momentarily. In that time, Kirito had rushed in, activated a [sword skill] and was now obliterating its [HP]. The new adversary fell just like all the rest, shattering when it reached zero [HP]. He turned around to see Coper in yet another battle, but this time the opponent was different. This one had a small bulb on top of its head. Recognising the danger that would come from killing this mob, Kirito quickly shouted out a warning.

"Coper, stop fighting! That one will attract all the mobs in the forest if we kill it!"

"I know." Came the casual reply.

_"What?" _Kirito was shocked. Coper knew that they would die if the mob was killed, but was still trying to do so? _"Does he intend to kill us both?"_ He called out once more.

"Coper stop! Do you have a death wish?" The [Little Nepent] had only a sliver of [HP] remaining. None. A foul smell permeated the air, causing both players to gag momentarily.

"Sorry Kirito. I can't afford to die. Not now, not ever."

"What are you talking ab –" Kirito started to question. He looked to where he last saw Coper to find a blank space.

_"Dammit! Green PK! Trying to kill me without getting found out are you?"_ Activating his [detection] skill, he scanned the forest frantically, searching for the green player cursor that Coper would have above his head. He found it just above a few bushes to the South just before it disappeared sight.

_"Must be using a hiding skill…Crap…Am I gonna die here?"_ Kirito thought. He started to panic – he couldn't afford to die either. But unlike Coper, he had no way of diverting mob aggro to another source – or did he? An idea popped into his head. A slightly dark idea, but it would keep him alive nevertheless.

The entire forest was upon him now. Every mob that had spawned was now in Kirito's general location, filling his vision with red cursors. He didn't have much time, he knew, and started to execute his plan. Engaging in battle, he slowly attracted all the mobs to the South, where he knew Coper to be. He ran, parrying and dodging when he could, attacking when it was safe to fight. When he figured he was close enough to Coper's location, he stopped fighting. To a witness, it looked like he had suddenly given up. But he hadn't. Instead, Kirito turned around and activated the [Sprinting] skill, running as if his life depended on it towards the exit. Now, without their target dummy (Kirito) in attack range, the mobs started attacking the next closest thing – Coper. Apparently, Coper hadn't figured out that the [Hiding] skill would only lower your chance of being targeted by mobs, not erase it. With him being the only thing to attack in the vicinity, his [HP] was dropping like crazy. Within seconds he had already lost 60% of his health, putting him in the yellow zone. Panicking, Coper looked around for a source of help, paralysed with fear, and found Kirito.

"Kirito! Help me! Please!" If he wanted to, he could. Only the [Little Nepents] were attacking now, and there were only four of them. He could get in and out, saving Coper in the process, without so much as a scratch. But did he want to? Coper had tried to kill him after all. If he saved him now, would he try to do so again?

"Kirito! Please! I'm sorry! I don't wanna die!" His health was in the red zone now, only 10% remaining. A couple more seconds of indecision and Coper would be dead no matter what happened. He made up his mind. Charging up the [Horizontal] skill, Kirito rushed in, stopping just before he collided with the mobs. He unleashed the skill, hitting the [weak points] of all four monsters, making them flinch momentarily. A moment was all he needed. Kirito turned swiftly, faced Coper and stood him up, urging him to run with him to the exit. And run they did, hightailing it out of the forest.

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><p>"You saved my life." Coper said disbelievingly. He and Kirito were now in the safety of [Horunka Village], resting inside the town's small but cosy Inn.<p>

"Yup." Kirito replied as he munched on a piece of [creamed bread]. Simple, but tasty.

"Why?"

"You know, before you start asking why I saved you you should ask yourself why you were about to die. I attracted the mob aggro and passed it to you remember?"

Coper blinked, thinking back. Realizing the black-haired boy was right, he sat, stumped.

"Anyway, I'm guessing that makes us even. Just don't go about doing green PKs or anything like that anymore ok? Cuz' then I might actually let you die."

"Oh."

"Well, what do you intend to do now?"

"Ah…good question. Um…I might actually stick around here for a bit. I still haven't gotten the quest item yet."

"About that…"

"What's wrong?"

"You know those last couple nepents I killed when we were running out of the forest?"

"Yeah. What about them?"

"I ended up getting a second [Little Nepent Bulb]."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. You can have that if you want. I don't need it."

"Well sure, I'll take it, but why would you give it to me, of all people?"

"Coper, we've been through it once, I am not going through it again. Anyway, now that there's no reason for you to stay here, what are you gonna do?"

"I think I'll just grind then, until someone finds the floor boss. No way am I missing that fight."

"Alright. I'm heading off towards the next village and then the dungeons so I guess I'll see you at the boss fight."

"Alright. Thanks for everything Kirito."

"No problem."

"I'm really sorry."

"Don't worry about it. G'night." Kirito, finished eating his bread, left the table and went upstairs to his room. Dragging open the menu, he unequipped his equipment and fell on the bed.

His mind wandered as the darkness of sleep took over, occasionally drifting over the thought _"was I right in saving Coper?"_ There were no dreams.

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><p>*'death stance' just refers to a battle position that Kirito uses when he is fighting, on guard. It isn't an official thing in the SAO series and is there just because I needed a name for his 'on-guard' position and 'battle stance' didn't sound right.<p>

# Note – If you don't understand what 'switch' means, it will be explained in a later chapter. Sorry!

**Hey guys, sorry about the huge-as delay! I know this isn't a good update, seeing as it's still just the once chapter, but a review from [ThisIsTheGreatestUsername] showed me a lot of flaws and I was stumped for a bit because I found even more that I couldn't fix.**

**Thanks to [Kage no Kenshi], [VODKAflagella] and [Vongola Ventitreesimo] for following :)**

**Sorry for betraying the canon, what with Coper surviving and all.**

**Tell me what you guys think about the updated chapter! Constructive criticism is definitely welcome! Don't forget to review~! Thanks for reading :)**


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